PEK Academy
Technical guides to bread, rolls, focaccia and other bakery products. Covers flour choice, hydration, gluten development, fermentation, shaping, steam, baking temperature, and the signs of a properly developed crumb and crust.
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Core guide
Bake bread as a sequence of phases rather than at one fixed temperature: preheat thoroughly, use strong initial heat and short early steam for oven spring, then vent moisture and reduce the heat so the crumb sets without…
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Start with 500 g wheat flour, 350 g water, 10 g salt, and 5 g instant yeast. Hold back some water with unfamiliar flour, build dough strength, end fermentation by visible progress…
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Manage moisture in two phases. Early in the bake, keep the surface humid enough that the crust does not set before oven spring is largely complete.
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For a lean wheat loaf, start in a thoroughly preheated oven at about 230–250°C (446–482°F), then reduce to roughly 200–220°C (392–428°F) after the initial oven spring and vent or remove steam.
Steam at the start of the bake keeps the dough surface moist and flexible, giving the loaf more room to expand, helping scores open, and preventing the crust from limiting oven spring too early.
Control crust color in phases: steam keeps the surface flexible early in the bake; after oven spring, bread needs a drier finishing phase.
Good bread depends on a sequence of connected stages: structure, fermentation, shaping and baking. Diagnose a problem at the stage where it first appears, not only in the finished loaf.